SCOTLAND'S first ostrich farm has been forced to close after a ''double whammy'' left its pioneer unable to support the flock.

Tenant farmer Chris Mann has been hit by the slump in arable prices at home and by the economic crisis abroad, where prices for ostrich skins in the Far East have crashed.

The closure shocked other Scots who have entered the ostrich trade, and yesterday they hailed him for fighting the red tape which surrounded ostrich meat sales in the UK.

They also praised his ''revolutionary'' research into the nutritional needs of the birds.

However, one of Scotland's major ostrich wholesalers, Mr Kenny Morrin, also warned that other Scottish ranchers could go out of business - although he stressed confidence in the long-term future.

Mr Mann set up his ranch at Carrington Barns, Midlothian, in 1992. It was greeted by a blaze of publicity.

However three years later, he had to enlist the help of MPs to overcome the bureaucracy which prevented the meat being placed on Scottish restaurant menus.

Food experts then forecast ostrich could become the low fat, high protein alternative to beef, especially after public fears over mad cow disease.

Today, some 85% of meat still goes abroad, and the wholesale prices have stood still for years. Now income from the skins has fallen because of the economic crisis in Asia.

A close family friend of Mr Mann, 31, said yesterday: ''He is very disappointed at going out of the ostrich business, but still believes that all his work was worthwhile.''

''Like many other arable farmers, he has suffered from low grain prices, which has caused financial difficulties in supporting the birds over the winter months. Although meat prices are doing well, the price for ostrich leather has slumped.''

Mr Morrin, of Stirling and Elgin-based Moray Ostriches, said: ''I'm saddened to hear of his decision. Many of us benefited from his pioneering work.

''He won't be the last ostrich farmer to go, but I am confident for the future because of the feedback from the public on ostrich meat. It is becoming more popular.''

There are about 20 ostrich farms in Scotland - a third down on the all-time high.

Two years ago, a judge declared that ostrich farming had been used as a ''fashionable device for the fleecing of investors.''

Winding up the Ostrich Farming Corporation, he found that millions of pounds of investors' money had been diverted from the company which was ''used as a milch cow by people up to no good.''